Club Membership

[jcwit]

I am a member of 3 clubs and soon to be 4 clubs. One of the clubs I belong to I'm on the Board of Directors and have been for 10 years or more, this club I represent at our bi yearly meeting of our association. The association has a large range, covered 100 place, with control tower for the match leader, for both handgun and rifle out to 100 yds./100 meters, shotgun range, etc., etc.

But the membership of the assoc. range is only approx. 70 members with a few of those as non paying members being Honorary members. To me this seems to be way out of the ordinary as it seems to me our membership should be in the 100's.

For those of you who belong to a club range what is your membership numbers?

My meeting is tonight.

Thanks

 

[Sam1911]

I'm a member of two shooting clubs/associations and on the Board of one.

The primary one has around 1,500 member families, and the other is much smaller, though I don't actually know the numbers.

 

[Ranger Roberts]

I'm a member of 2 clubs. One has around 1500 members if I recall correctly and the other has 2000 members. The one with 2000 members has a restaurant and bar and hosts lots of events. They also host "open to the public" events and shoots which always helps boost our numbers.

 

[herrwalther]

I am not a member of any gun clubs as of right now. There is one I would like to join but they have closed off membership applications until next year at the earliest.

 

[PJSprog]

I was a member of a local club a few years ago. I have no idea what the total membership numbers were, but it seemed to me that it couldn't have been very high. There was never a time when I was there shooting on the rifle range that there were more than a couple of people there. Their idea of an indoor range was a large room with some tables set up at one end ... fine for air rifle competitions, but I shuddered at the idea of shooting my .357 Magnum in there. They also have a really nice shotgunning area, and a small cowboy action town. I was always surprised at the lack of attendance on regular non-event weekends. I can't imagine there was more than about 100 or so active members there, based on what I saw. It's a decent club, but it seems like no one goes there.

We shoot our long guns at home now, and recently bought memberships to a different indoor range where we take our handguns for a spin. It's not really a club, per se. It's more a gun store with an attached range. No idea about membership there either.

 

[CoRoMo]

On range clean-up days, the same 20-30 people show up to do the work every single time. But I think the number at the last meeting was around 750 membership spots, and they're always filled. It's like a 2-year wait to get into this place too.

 

[cat_IT_guy]

Last I heard Midwest GCA was running a bit over 2000 members. Great club for the $75 annual dues and not usually too crowded. Usually figure if you want to shoot 200 yards you'll be sharing but rarely busy enough that I can't find a pistol bay to myself if I want...about 6 short bays to choose from, an archery range, and a handful of under utilized hand traps.

 

[JTHunter]

There is a local gun club that has had a series of legal battles with the county. While they have won every one of those cases, it has forced them to raise their rates to (what I consider) ridiculous levels as the county has yet to reimburse them their legal fees (despite multiple judges ordering them to pay up!) :banghead:

Their annual dues are over $300/year and also include the stipulation that you have 30 hours "sweat-equity" per year.

I just can't afford it.

 

[gspn]

I think they told me there were around 2,000 members at my club. This is in a city with a total metro-area population of approximately 1.3 million people, and perhaps 4 or 5 shooting facilities in the area.

 

[Radagast]

Around 60 in my pistol club, we rent time on a security companies range. 28000 in my rifle association, with access to 4 ranges. This in a city of 5 million.

 

[DivideByZero]

There are about 1200 members (families are considered members) in a club that I belong to. Cost is $100 per year. I am located in the more heavily populated area of my state. As you go to the more rural areas, you find fewer clubs as most people are shooting on their own land.

 

[mattkg38]

Any one know of any clubs around chicago illinois?

 

[PJSprog]

Any one know of any clubs around chicago illinois?

I know that the ISRA has a range near Kankakee.
I suspect you'll need to get outside of the Chicagoland/Cook County area to find very many gun clubs.

 

[tcj]

I'm a member of a small indoor range with a membership of 350 and a large outdoor range that includes shotgun, action ranges, multiple rifle ranges, pistol ranges, silhouette, etc. - that one has 5,500 members.

Aside from the initiation fees, the indoor range runs $100/yr and the outdoor range $170/yr but @ the outdoor range you can earn work credits by volunteering of $80/yr.

 

[StrutStopper]

I belong to two clubs. One has over 1000 members, the second I believe just had the membership cap go from 350 to 375. I do most of my handgun shooting and some shotgun at the free state range when it is open.

 

[MARKMALL]

The club I belong to has 103 members. I believe the reason we don't have more is because we are a rural club.

 

[cmb3366]

The local club I belong to is capped at 500 members. We have a very selective initiation process, and depending on the time of the season, there can be a waiting list for a spot. Dues are $125 per year, and members are required to do 15 volunteer hours, or they must pay a $225 range improvement fee.

We have a 25 bench 500yd rifle range, a 15 bench 100yd pistol range, multiple 'scenario' pistol ranges for IDPA/Cowboy action, trap, skeet, 5 stand, and ~400 acres of hunting land.

I am also a member of the range in my hometown in NY, 5 bench 200yd rifle/pistol range, indoor 15 bay 50' pistol range, and one trap field. Dues are $50 a year, total membership is ~150 individuals depending on the year.

 

[cat_IT_guy]

@mattkg, you asked:

Any one know of any clubs around chicago illinois?

You must be an optimist. I did an internship in the area north of downtown (Riverwoods, IIRC), and upon asking a local gun shop where the nearest skeet range was, the employee replied after a long pause.... "Wisconsin?".

The range I referenced, Midwest Gun Collector's Assn, is about 20 minutes NE of Peoria. Closer to central IL than Chicago, but probably driveable in 1.5-2hrs each way. Might be your best option, though I understand hardly convenient.

 

[medalguy]

My club has only one member.

 

[joem1945]

I belong to a private club. Membership is limited to 250. The club I quit had a membership of over 1500 and it was a zoo. This one is much better.

 

[Hardtarget]

The club I'm a member of limits to 250 members. Cost is $300 start up and $100/yearly there after. I don't see very many others unless there is an "event" in progress. Often I'm the only one there.

Mark

 

[Swing]

I was a member of a club for years, but finally hung it up. Reasoning being I do 95%+ of my shooting on private land I own, so there just wasn't any compelling reason to keep the membership. I recently read of some improvements they made, so I'm going to look into it again.